Cancer Treatment Posts on Medivizor

In July 2015, we published a post called Patients Included In Research: Studying Cancer by Mutation Not Organ. In that post, we shared the goal that cancers would be treated not by the site of origin, but rather by their genetic features. Achieving this goal is closer than you think!
This week the FDA announced accelerated approval** of a...

When you’re 8 years old, jumping rope, playing dolls, swinging on swing sets and doing homework are girlhood pursuits. Discovering “Lumpy Luey” in your left chest wall isn’t.
In 1978, Stephanie Dodds’ way of coping with the diagnosis of Ewing Sarcoma was to give it a name and focus on “getting rid of it.”...

In Oncology Basics 2016 part 1, we examined the elegance of the cells that make up our body. In Oncology Basics 2016 part 2, we explored what holds the instructions for life–DNA–and the special processes of self-replication and transcription that are used to pass on and translate those instructions. Now we will try to connect the...

“Nixon asked, ‘Doctor, what do you consider the most pressing problem that medicine has today?’…My answer was simple: ‘Cancer.’ He said, ‘I’m amazed. Why do you say that?’ My reply was, ‘I think every physician who is dedicated and sincere never goes on the floor of a hospital where he has...

In the US, people buy health insurance to pay for their medical care. Often their employer, as a benefit, offers partially subsidized health insurance (if they are working full time). Yet, even if people buy the best coverage they can through their employer, they pay out-of-pocket costs. Some, who can’t afford that kind of chunk out of the weekly...

“A second opinion is when a doctor other than your regular doctor gives you his or her view about your health problem and how to treat it.” Definition on Medicare.gov
In 2011, Susan [name changed to protect her identity] found a lump in her right breast. She went to one of the two nearby university medical centers. At facility A, the surgeon told her...

The Cancer Research Institute has created an infographic to explain cancer immunotherapy.
Cancer immunotherapy is an incredible resource to treat cancer. Essentially, the immune system is activated and its ability to remove specific cancer cells is re-enabled. The infographic below explains the components of the immune system that are...

Or Patient-Centered Cancer Care: IOM’s recommendations
Last week, we looked at the recent Institute of Medicine’s report and wrote the post about “How the US Got Its Cancer Care Crisis“.
This week we get more practical. With specific recommendations you can use!
The general recommendations include:
(1) becoming engaged patients.
(2)...

Did you know…
In a study conducted in 2012, 69% of patients diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and 81% of those diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer did not understand that chemotherapy was not at all likely to cure their cancer?
That a national survey showed physicians asked patients what they want in their care only ½ the time?
That patients ask...